Abstract PI: CARBONETTI, NICHOLAS H. Project: 1R13AI091296-01 Title: 9th International Symposium on Bordetella Accession Number: 3256068 ================== NOTICE: THIS ABSTRACT WAS EXTRACTED FROM APPLICATION AND HAS NOT BEEN PROOFED BY AN SRA.WHEN THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE APPLICATION SCANNING PROCESS, THE EXTRACTED TEXT MAY BE INCORRECT OR INCOMPLETE. ================== Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of the human respiratory disease pertussis (whooping cough) was cultured for the first time in 1906, by Bordet and Gengou, at the Institut Pasteur, and the previous International Bordetella meeting in 2006 at the Institut Pasteur in Paris included celebration of the centennial of that important event. Other important members of the genus, B. bronchiseptica, an animal pathogen that can also infect immunocompromised humans, and B. parapertussis, a human pathogen that can cause a mild pertussis-like disease, were isolated in 1912 and 1938, respectively. The incidence of pertussis has recently been increasing in the US and other parts of the world, despite active immunization programs with wide coverage, and the number of reported cases in the US in 2005 was a 50-year high. Beyond the original bordetellae, B. avium is an important cause of respiratory infections in birds and is responsible for tremendous economic losses for the poultry industry. In addition, several new species within the genus, such as B. hinzii, B. holmesii, B. trematum and B. petrii, are not well characterized with regard to spectrum of disease, virulence factors or pathogenesis. The genomes for B. pertussis, B. parapertussis, B. bronchiseptica, B. avium and B. petrii have been sequenced and the data published, and new genome sequence information will emerge in 2010. Therefore, this is a particularly timely meeting to discuss these and other important issues in Bordetella biology. This proposal is requesting support for students and post-doctoral fellows, for trainees from underrepresented minority groups and for developing world scientists to attend the 9th International Symposium on Bordetella, to be held in October 2010 at the Renaissance Marriott Hotel at the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD. Sessions on Pathogenesis, Immunology, Genomics, Epidemiology, and Prevention and Treatment will be included. The Bordetella community is an especially open and collaborative collection of scientists and it is important to assure and support attendance of trainees at meetings such as this, to encourage future investigators in this field. The meeting for which travel funds are being requested in this proposal is a regular event for those with research, clinical, public health and vaccine interest and expertise in diseases caused by Bordetella pertussis and related organisms in the genus Bordetella. Very recently, the number of pertussis cases in the US was at a 50-year high, and a new vaccine formulation was approved for use in adolescents and adults. Pertussis and related illnesses are currently a significant problem for US and international public health and all aspects of these illnesses will be addressed at this meeting. Support for trainees to attend and participate in the meeting is essential for development of new investigators in this field.